VRMMO: World's First Glyphborne

The corpse was not human, at least not entirely. There were some humanoid elements to it, such as two legs and two arms and a generally bipedal structure.

But there were also some elements that were clearly not human.

For one thing, it was too small.

If the corpse stood upright, instead of laying on the ground in a rotten heap as corpses tended to do, then it would have stood at only 3 feet tall at the most. It’s skull was also the wrong shape, with an extended mouth and dozens of needle like teeth.

Combined with the flesh that remained, which had some lingering patterns of scales and a stump where what was definitely a tail had been ripped off, this creature in life had most likely been some kind of bipedal lizard.

The sight of it caused a wave of confusion, shock and even small hints of fear to spread amongst the group. Even Valerie felt it, although she lacked the fear aspect.

Whilst they were reeling at the sight of something that was completely alien to their world, confirming the fantastical tale they had seen on TV about the monster defeated in the streets, Valerie was concerned with this creatures positioning.

It was nearly a kilometre away from their destination, Which was a kilometre too far. The foliage spreading out was not an issue, that was bound to happen as the environment took back what belonged to it, but this was not a good sign in her eyes.

Bypassing the corpse, they continued on their path with a touch more haste, ushered on by Valerie’s insistence.

More and more corpses appeared as they carried on with some of them still in the process of rotting whilst others had completely decomposed into piles of bone.

However all of them surrounded by masses of vegetation or foliage that was turning the area from a quaint garden into the beginnings of a veritable forest.

There were even small trees blooming, with their roots twisted to mimic the form of different creatures bone structure.

By the time they reached the quarry, it was nearly impossible to recognise. If it had not been for the sharp drop, Valerie would never have been able to find it within the growing forest, as not a single sign of what had once remained.

Every inch of dirt, even the spaces that were once occupied by stone, had been turned into a green paradise. In the very middle of the earthen pit, were four towering trees. Their leaves swaying in the gentle wind as flowers bloomed upon their branches, and the beginnings of fruit were already starting to show.

The soldiers gaped in awe at the once in a life time sight. Although not all of them were as starved of nature as Hazard, none of them had seen something quite like this.

The sight before them, the raw and untamed power of nature, was incompatible to the perfectly pruned. tamed and maintained gardens of the ultra wealthy.

Even Valerie had to admit, it was impressive and gave Figg’s garden of magic a run for its money. Not just in the looks department, but for the level of mana that was floating in the air thanks to the sheer amount of natural living things surrounding them.

Just breathing this air in was slowly but surely pushing her closer to the next stage, although Valerie intentionally stifled it and kept her mana levels under control. Now was not the time for another advancement.

In fact she had been ready for an advancement for some time, but had been intentionally suppressing it and continuing to slowly reinforce her existing foundation.

Moving closer to the trees, all of the soldiers became distracted by them. Admiring the strange and alien wood that formed these mysterious trees, one of which had bright purple leaves that were definitely not from their world.

However in all of their inspections, none of them stepped between the trees, or looked towards the centre of the overgrown quarry. After all, nothing was there. They knew that, so it was just easy to ignore.

That’s what their minds were telling them anyways, until Valerie started to reach out with her magic.

She forced it passed the invisible barrier that was subtly trying to push her away, a feat that was considerably easier not only because she knew about its existence but because she was the one that had helped build it in the first place.

Finding the flaws in the illusion was easier when you knew where to look, and once she found those particular flaws, all she had to do was apply the right amount of pressure.

The illusion shattered like a pane of glass that met with a brick, and all at once a tsunami of new sensations assaulted their senses, altering them to the thing the very thing they had been inexplicably ignoring since they had arrived.

The stench of rot, more powerful than any other area, accompanied the heavy metallic stench of fresh blood. The air pressure shifted, or more accurately they noticed the discrepancy, as the soldiers immediately turned to the wicked tear in space that seemed to suddenly appear in the corner of their eyes.

Their weapons quickly raised, their fingers already shifting to the triggers ready to blast the sudden threat into oblivion. Actions that the forest did not take lightly.

The trees that they had been admiring came to life, their roots ripping themselves from the ground and lunging towards the soldiers, as each root formed into a deadly spear of wood that could easily pierce through their throats before they realised what was happening.

"STOP!"

At Valerie’s shout, the entire forest froze just mere moments after coming to life. Wooden spears stopped just before they could pierce the flesh of the soldiers, although some had been so close to the trees that they had already been pierced and small trickles of blood dripped down the weaponized roots.

One man in particular had been practically hugging one of the trees.

Hazard stumbled back, pulling himself off of the spear that was coated crimson, as he clutched at his throat. He let out a drowning gurgle as he desperately tried to stop the river of blood pouring from the gaping hole where his Adams apple had previously been.

As he dropped to his knees, his panicked eyes desperately whipping around searching for help, he locked eyes with Valerie.

He let out another gurgle, one filled with desperation and despair, before falling backwards and continuing to drown on his own life.

Whilst she watched this happen, despite the familiar feelings that she had silently expressed for him before, there was only one thing Valerie was capable of feeling in that moment.

Hungry.